A Breath of Fresh Air
by silverdragonfly31
Summary: Casey Gant has spent years trying to forget Veronica Mars and just when he thinks he's managed it she shows back up in his life.
1. Blast from the past

A Breath of Fresh Air

By Silverdragonfly

Author's Note: So I started another fic awhile back, a LoVe fic, and I'm still working on it but this idea sort of wormed its way into my brain and wouldn't let go. I'd love to hear what you all think, only the first chapter written so far but I've got the rest planned. Do any of you remember what Casey's grandmother's business was? I seem to recall it being a publishing company but all my stuff is in storage and I can't check for myself.

Disclaimer: None of the characters from Veronica Mars are mine. I own nothing.

Chapter One

Casey had known that it was only a matter of time before Veronica was going to come looking for him. He'd heard that she was asking questions about Shelley Pomroy's party and was pretty sure he'd be on her list of people to talk to. He was relieved that he could honestly tell her that he hadn't taken advantage of her but the guilt that he felt about not stopping the other 09'ers- that was a different story. Until Veronica had started showing up at the Mooncalf Collective he hadn't thought much about that night, about her. But as they started to become friends, as she helped him deal with his grandmother's illness and later her death, the guilt started to seep in and he couldn't make it to stop.

When he was dragged into his parents' limo by the deprogrammers, Veronica was all he could think about. He knew who these silent, menacing men had to be and if he were to be completely honest, he'd admit that he was grateful in a way, because a return to the old Casey would mean an end to the guilt. But as they drove away from the cemetery, he mourned the loss of her snarky comments and the fire in her eyes. He was going to miss Veronica Mars.

He tried to get out of telling her about that night when she caught up with him outside of school, tried to get away as fast as possible but she brought up his grandmother and the guilt rushed back in. He was able to look her in the eyes when he told her about pushing her away that night, glad that it had never even really crossed his mind to take advantage of her. He thought he could see some pain in her eyes, something that went beyond finding out about a night of drunken high school stupidity, and barely stopped himself from asking her about it. A feeling of dread like a lead weight in his stomach warned him that he didn't want to know.

He watched from a distance as the drama of her life played out, the love triangle between her and Duncan and Logan that only seemed to end when Duncan fled the country. He woke up sometimes and had to fight to set aside dreams of sweeping in and being the one to hold her in his arms.

Graduation came and went and he thought she was out of his life for good. Years passed, and his life would have been called a success by most people's standards. He ran his grandmother's business with a staggering degree of competence, making it more profitable than it had ever been. He married and divorced but never had any children. He lived a comfortable life and it had been a long time since he'd thought about a certain petite, blond PI.

Until the morning, as he review his schedule for the day with his assistant, he noticed a familiar name scrawled into his date book.

Author's Note: Please R&R honestly. I don't have a beta so I'm relying on the feedback to find errors so I can correct them. :)


	2. Weird favor, is there any other kind?

Author's Note: Just so y'all know, as much of a LoVe fan as I am, this will definitely be a Casey/Veronica romance. Please R&R, it makes my day. I know this is short but I wanted to get a second chapter up before I left for work.

Disclaimer: I don't own Veronica Mars but I wouldn't mind a Logan to call my very own. Or a Casey. Or…well you get the idea.

A Breath of Fresh Air

By Silverdragonfly

Chapter 2

Casey looked at himself in the mirror again and grimaced in disgust, he was being such a girl. His meeting with Veronica was in five minutes and here he was, straightening his tie, again, and combing his fingers through his hair. He liked to think that he'd aged well. He'd filled out since high school but was still tall and his frame still looked lanky, Regular trips to the gym kept him leanly muscled, no spare tire for him, thank god. He still had all of his hair and his ex wife used to tell him that the laugh lines around his eyes added character. Rolling his eyes he left the bathroom and seated himself behind his desk. He pulled out some paperwork and did his best to look busy.

His heart started pounding when his secretary buzzed him to tell him that Ms. Mars had arrived for their appointment. It took some real effort to keep his voice steady when he told Anna to show her in. He initialed a few of the papers in front of him, but he heard her come in. It was like his senses were hyper aware. Catching a whiff of perfume he was pleasantly surprised that she still wore the same one after all these years. He waited a few heartbeats before looking up, not wanting to appear too eager to see her.

She looked just like he remembered. Oh, she was older, just like he was, but she was still tiny and delicate looking, although the spark in her eyes made him think she was still just as much of a powerhouse as she'd been back in high school. He realized he was grinning and before he knew it he was on his feet and moving around the desk to give her a hug.

"Veronica Mars," he said, "What on earth are you doing here?" He looked her over from head to toe, trying to be discreet as he checked the ring finger on her left hand, which was, to his secret delight, ring free.

"Casey," she replied warmly, what looked like a genuine smile lighting up her face before she stepped away from his hug and sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Its good to see you again." She did the head tilt that she'd been so well known for in high school, "I need to ask you for kind of a weird favor."

Author's Note: I wanted to thank cjhar, Macala Armstrong, vmarslovahh18, IluvVM, and xosummerxo for their reviews. I wasn't sure if anyone was going to like this story, hearing that you all did made me eager to write chapter two.


	3. Whoa there cowgirl!

Veronica bit her lip nervously and ducked her head, just a little. Casey was having trouble reconciling this Veronica with the fearless girl he'd known in high school. Waiting for her to tell him what favor she could possibly need after all these years was enough to drive him crazy. "Out with it Mars, the curiosity is killing me." He told her, tone teasing.

"Logan is getting married." She blurted out suddenly and Casey felt his heart sink, just a little. He should have known that this would involve Echolls... or Kane. After all, with Veronica, it always had, one way or the other. He was such a loser to still be pining after this woman after all these years.

"I know," he told her, forcing down his disappointment, "I got the invitation in the mail yesterday." He walked back behind his desk and settled into his seat to watch as Veronica paced the room. He could feel the energy and tension rolling off of her in waves.

"Look, I checked into this woman's, Kara's, history, and Casey, something isn't right there. She's been widowed twice and has a fiancé that killed himself. Now maybe her luck in love is rotten to epic proportions," Casey didn't understand the somewhat bitter smirk that crossed her face or the way spat out the word epic like it was some sort of profanity and he wasn't sure that he wanted too. "and I'm just being a paranoid ex girlfriend," she continued, "Or maybe she a gold digger who might be out to hurt our friend."

"Alright, I'll admit, it sounds a little suspicious," He was thinking to himself that it sounded like the plot of some crappy movie but he still trusted Veronica's instincts enough to listen, " but what the hell does that have to do with me?" Casey asked, confused and impatient.

Veronica took a breath, steeling herself. "Well, if I took this information to Logan, he'd just blow it off. He'll think that its jealousy or something and he won't listen. We have too much history for him to take me at my word on this."

"Okay…"Casey said, his voice trailing off and making it clear that he still didn't understand what that had to do with him. "And you need what from me? You want me to talk to him?"

"Well, I sort of told Logan that we were together… romantically." She told him, the words coming quickly, like she expected him to blow up at any minute and wanted to explain as fast as possible.

"I found all of this out and I knew that if Logan found out that I was single right now, he'd never listen, he'd just think that it was a ploy to get him back, and before you ask, yes his ego is that big. So I told him that you and I were dating and that things had started to get pretty serious." She stopped talking, clearly need to catch her breath and looked at him like she was amazed he hadn't started yelling. "I told him it was _you_ because I know that you're still friends. I was hoping that you'd believe me and want to help me because you care about Logan. If this woman _is _out to hurt him, maybe the two of us presenting a united front will get his attention and make him take it seriously."

She looked at him hopefully, doing the head tilt she was famous for and he knew he was a goner, he'd do what she asked but he still needed answers. "Why me?" He couldn't help but ask, "Why not Duncan or Dick?"

She grimaced before responding. "Logan would never believe anything romantic could happen between Dick and me." She told him and there was enough anger in her tone that he had no trouble believing her. "And Jake Kane may have gotten the Mannings to drop the charges against Duncan but he's still out of the country. Logan would never buy my being in a relationship with him either. But you…he knows that we were friends in high school," She began to count off her reasons on her fingers, "He knows that you're definitely my "type", and he wouldn't be surprised that if there was something between us, you wouldn't say something to him until you were sure that it was real. Plus, you know what his temper is like."

At that Casey couldn't help but nod his head in agreement, thinking back to some of the more violent explosions of anger he'd witnessed in high school.

"I couldn't just ask some unsuspecting fool to pretend to be in love with me, not when they would have no idea what Logan is capable of. But, you're his friend, he knows that you wouldn't hurt me, and if push came to shove…I think you could hold your own against him." The last bit was an obvious attempt to flatter him but she still smiled at him, blue eyes wide, "So Case…what do you say? Willing to help out a former Mooncalf in need of help?"


End file.
